Ministry of Mines
Union Minister for Mines Shri Narendra Singh Tomar to Inaugurate 58th Meeting of the Central Geological Programming Board at Pusa Tomorrow
Union Minister for Mines Shri Narendra Singh Tomar will inaugurate the 58th meeting of Central Geological Programming Board  of the Geological Survey of India  tomorrow.Minister of State for mines Shri HaribhaiParthibhai Chaudhary will be present as the Guest of Honouron this occasion.The meeting will be held at NASC Complex, ICAR, Pusa, New Delhi under Chairmanship of Shri Anil Mukim, Secretary, Ministry of Mines.
The meeting will be attended by senior officers of Ministry of Mines, Geological Survey of India  and the members from other Central Ministries, State Directorates of Mining and Geology, representatives from private mining industry, PSUs, Mining associations and other stakeholders.
During the day-long meeting, total 897 Field Season Proposals of GSI for the year 2019-20 will be placed before the Board for discussion and approval. Out of 897 programs, GSI has drawn up 390 programmes under mineral exploration which is being the most priority sector of Ministry of Mines. Out of 390 mineral exploration projects, 19 projects are from Marine mineral exploration domain. It is worth mentioning that last year GSI implemented 231 programs under mineral exploration including 17 marine mineral exploration projects. This shows a quantum jump in the field of mineral exploration activities in GSI compared to last year. The finalization of programmes will take into consideration the priorities and importance set forth by the Government of India through its various policy decisions and also on the basis of the recommendations of CGPB Committees’ and State Geological Programming Board  meetings.
GSI in collaboration with Geoscience Australia is currently working in two transects under the “UNCOVER” project to locate concealed mineral deposits. Along with the above endeavour, GSI has also launched the 2nd round of multi-sensor aero-geophysical surveys in four other prioritized sectors within the Obvious Geological Potential  zone for search of mineral deposits. The data acquisition over the four blocks taken up in the first round is nearing completion.
In Multi-disciplinary geoscientific domain, GSI is also working on landslides being the nodal agency for landslide studies in India together with Natural Resources, Canada  and British Geological Survey  on landslide monitoring and early warning. GSI also had launched National Landslide Susceptibility Mapping  to prepare seamless landslide susceptibility maps of the hilly regions of the country since 2014. By March 2019, under NLSM programme, 3.22 lakh km2 target area shall be completed. NLSM is aimed to complete the total target of 4.27 lakh km2 by 2020. As the nodal organization for 36th International Geological Congress , scheduled to be organized during 2-8 March, 2020, GSI is spearheading various preparatory activities viz., science, field trips, legacy programme etc. of the congress and has pivotal role in its organization. Known as Olympics of geoscience, IGC is returning to Indian soil after a gap of 56 years.
BRIEF BACKGROUND
The Central Geological Programming Board  is an important platform of the Geological Survey of India , Ministry of Mines wherein the Annual Field Season Program  of GSI is finalized. The members of CGPB and other stakeholders like State Governments, Central/ State Government Mineral Exploration Agencies, PSUs and Private Entrepreneurs etc. present their proposals for collaborative work with GSI. Based on the priorities set by the Government of India and the importance and urgency of proposals presented by the members and stakeholders, the Annual Programme of GSI for survey & mapping, exploration, Research and Development, multidisciplinary catering to societal projects and training & capacity building programmes during the forthcoming financial year is given a final shape after due discussion and deliberations held at the topmost level at CGPB meeting, chaired by the Secretary, Ministry of Mines, Government of India.
The Ministry of Mines, Government of India, vide notification dated 13th March 2009 had revamped/ reconstituted the CGPB Committee into 12 theme-based groups. The main objective of this reconstitution is to enable the States and other Stakeholders to accrue benefit from wider participation and interaction with GSI to further their activities and avoid duplication. It was felt that it would provide a forum for better coordination between Central and State level stakeholders by encouraging the regular functioning of State Geological Programming Boards , set up by the State Governments. It was decided that the 12 Committees for the various sub-sectors would comprise members and invitees from the concerned States and Agencies engaged in activities in the field relevant to that particular sector and present their recommendations to the CGPB.